Death's Day
by TheRoman987
Summary: "Cry woe, ruin, destruction and decay: The worst is death, and death will have his day." -Shakespeare. Death is in Manhattan, watching as a group of desperate demigods face off against the Lord of Time's massive army. At the same time, Death is in California as he sees the Legion put siege to Mount Othrys. One-Shot


**Death's Day**

Thanatos strode serenely down FDR Drive, the atmosphere of death all around him. Forty demigods, thirty Hunters, and a handful of nature spirits fighting a war against the Titan of Time. He smiled.

Down the Hudson River, a Staten Island Ferry shattered as the river itself turned against them, dracaenae and hellhound alike drowning in the current. A dozen speedboats full of demigods sank in the East River, drowning as the river didn't even allow them to surface. Thanatos breathed in deeply, the rush of power surging through the him as he came across the Queens-Midtown Tunnel. A banner adorned with a white dove flapped outside the entrance, and the god wrinkled his nose at the heavy smell of perfume the coated the air. Givenchy, was it? One of Cupid's favorites.

The God of Death entered the Tunnel, seeing a dozen daughters and sons of Aphrodite harassing the horde of monsters they faced. Swords turned into bottles of perfume, that inevitably shattered as the monsters gripped them too tightly. A flock of doves swooped over the monsters, defecating on heads, clawing at faces, and generally aiding the chaos. He -Thanatos- didn't like children of Aphrodite. They were notorious for simply humiliating their enemy away, not killing them as they should.

Drew Tanaka and Silena Beauregard stood side-by-side, charmspeaking the monsters together.

"Ram your head against the wall, hon." called Drew to a hellhound. The monster obediently charged the side of the tunnel, dissolving into dust, "That's a good boy."

Silena, though, was a bit more effective in her charmspeaking. Pointing at a particularly large Laestrygonian, she called out, "Turn! Run! Turn again!"

The Laestrygonian, following the shouted instructions, charged through the monster's ranks. Due to it's size, it simply trampled and slammed other monsters away until they managed to kill it. But Silena simply shrugged, changed the object of her attention to a Hyperborean and directed it to spray frosty breath over it's allies.

Thanatos shook his head in disgust as the monster horde scattered, numbers barely changed but thoroughly embarrassed. Couldn't they see that the Aphrodite Cabin wouldn't hold them if they charged? It must be the perfume, he thought. The god walked out of the tunnel again, stretching his wings in relief. He hated having a roof over his head, no room to fly. Thanatos took off, wings beating powerfully against the air as the ground fell away beneath him. So enraptured was he in the thrill of the flight that he missed the flashes of light from the Williamsburg Bridge below.

What he didn't miss was the javelin that punctured the edge of his wing. Thanatos spun in the air, ripping out the javelin and looking downward. No one could see Death, the javelin was simply bad luck. Once again alert to the world, Thanatos dived two pegasi – one pure-black and the other chesnut- passed low over the bridge. The pure black one had a demigod with sea-green eyes on it's back, and Thanatos frowned as he sensed the demigod's blessing -or curse- of Achilles. Another soul denied to him.

The pegasi dropped behind an overturned yellow schoolbus, and Thanatos watched as the daughter of Athena and the other demigod had a heated conversation with those hiding behind the bus. An archer shot a special arrow into the monster's ranks, one that screamed as it flew and let loose with a blast of sound when it landed. The other archers -children of Apollo, he guessed- took advantage of the disrupted monster ranks and for a few seconds kept them at bay. The God of Death frowned at the display; Why would they waste a sonic arrow like that? The green-eyed swordsman could've easily hacked apart any number of monsters while they were confused, so why didn't he? And who would organize a fighting force comprised entirely of archers and other ranged fighters?

The god had plenty of experience with wars, and watched as the swordsman charged the now-regrouped monsters. He faced the Minotaur, killing it before slaughtering his way through the horde, only to halt as a group of armed cavalry approached. Now would be the time to use a sonic arrow, Thanatos thought.

Meanwhile, his attention was called for in California. The God of Death disappeared, reappearing high above Mount Othrys. Below, the Legion -bolstered with veterans from New Rome- were fighting more then quadruple their number of monsters. At the front was a blond-haired demigod and a dark-haired demigoddess. The Praetors, presumably.

"I expected to see you in New York, Thanatos." said a young women with soul-less black eyes and clawed, red-stained hands that looked drenched in viscere. Her wings were as dark as sin, "Or should I say Letus?"

"I prefer Mors in Roman company, Anaplekte." Thanatos replied, waiting as she flew to his side, "How fares your domain?"

Anaplekte bared her teeth, also red-stained, "Very well, thank you. I would ask you the same, but I already know the answer. Death so rarely changes."

"All death is death, sister." Thanantos gazed at the Romans, still desperately fighting, "From yours in violence, to disease in Nosos'. Have you seen her recently?"

The Keres of Violent Death scowled, "In Bangladesh, a few days ago. She said she was traveling to Sudan."

Thanatos nodded, his eyes never shifting, "Sudan should treat her well."

Also looking at the Romans, Anaplekte took out a silver drachma and flipped it. Far below, a demigod screamed as a Laestrygonian's axe buried itself in his side.

"I rather liked the look of that one." commented Thanatos, "Pity."

Anaplekte scowled, "The pity is I'm not being paid for this. The Romans never liked me, unlike you and that bitch Mania."

"Shall we return to New York, then?" asked the God of Death.

"Why not?"

(===+++++-X-+++++===)

Brother and sister flew high above the Manhattan Bridge, watching as The Hermes Cabin frantically defended the chokepoint. Despite facing an innumerable amount of monsters, they held the position and were actually taking ground from the horde. At the head of the campers was the reason why: The same green-eyed demigod as before.

The coin was flipped again, this time turning up tails. Anaplekte grunted, cheated out of her death.

"I wouldn't bother, sister." Thanatos advised, "I can sense the curse of Achilles about that one."

Anaplekte laughed out loud, "As if that would save him from his fate. They never learn, do they?"

"They never envision the consequence of their actions, yes." acknowledged the god, "The Styx is not the place I would wish to spend an eternity in."

The curse of Achilles had two major flaws, the first being that any unaimed strike at the person possessing of the curse would always hit the chink in their skin of iron. The second was there is only one destination for those bearing the curse of Achilles: The River Styx.

The coin flipped. A demigoddess died.

"I never understood why monsters being destroyed counted as death." stated Thanatos, "You do not decide the deaths of monsters, yet I can still feel each one."

"Perhaps it is that they still enter the Underworld, yet never are truly gone." Anaplekte mused as she balanced the silver coin on her thumb.

"Perhaps." Thanatos shrugged, seeing the monsters retreat and the demigods of Olympus stand victorious.

As an arrow flew from the monster's retreating backs, a coin flipped through the air. Another tails, and the arrow missed.

"The day is won." Thanatos looked at the demigods, still cheering.

"They were impatient." Anaplekte replied, "From what I've heard, they weren't to attack until sundown."

Thanatos turned to face his sister, raising an eyebrow. "And how would you know?"

Anaplekte looked back innocently, holding up a scythe charm in her open palm, "From one of the dead demigods on the Williamsburg Bridge. It might provide some interesting information."

They swooped down together, Thanatos taking a seat on pedestals that used to hold automatons. "Didn't see _you_ there."

Still feigning innocence, Anaplekte didn't answer the question in his voice, "Shall we check the Romans again?"

And they did, flashing to California again. The Romans were about halfway up the slope by know, but had been split in half by a counter-offensive from the monsterous horde.

"Hmm. Romans retreating? I haven't seen that in a few centuries." commented Thanatos as he watched the show.

Anaplekte grunted as the coin landed heads-up and a solider perished under the spear of a dracaenae, "You should get out of the house more, then. Why, I remember Jewish Rebellion. The very same Legion, isn't it?"

"Before it went underground, yes." Thanatos replied, "Did they not lose their eagle?"

"Along with a Legion's worth of men." cackled the Keres, "Poor men. Over six thousand souls."

The God of Death shrugged uncaringly, "There is nothing more dangerous than a zealot."

The Romans streamed back to the camp they had made at the base of the mountain. Now behind spike-filled ditches, they turned what crossbows and ballista they had on the monster horde. The catapults, of course, had to be kept in reserve for laying siege to Mount Othrys.

The monsters soon retreated, leaving behind a number of their fellows dissolving into dust. The Legion didn't pursue, Jason having called a break. As Thanatos watched, half the Legion headed to dinner at the center of the camp. No matter how desperate it may have looked on the outside, the Romans were in their element: Attacking a fortified position filled with undisciplined troops that had no unit cohesion. The soldiers would attack in tortoise formation, fight until they were nearly over-run, then retreat to the base and kill any monsters that followed. Then repeat the process.

All of a sudden, the scythe charm crackled to life, "The Hunters are at the Queensboro Bridge. The Apollo Campers are covering the Holland Tunnel, the Hephaestus Cabin doing the same for Lincoln Tunnel. Demeter has the Queens-Midtown Tunnel. A third of Hermes and Dionysus have Brooklyn Bridge, another third on Manhattan Bridge. Athena and the Hunters are forming up at the Reservoir. The last third of Hermes and an army of automatons are at the Harlem River Crossing."

Anaplekte laughed, "Trying to stop Hyperion. Shall we head for the Reservoir?"

Thanatos tapped his chin thoughtfully, "I know that voice . . . one of the children on Aphrodite, I believe. Not a message from that thing all day, then _she_ reports in. Are you sure it isn't broken?"

The Keres laughed, "Of that I am sure."

They both flashed to an area north-east of the Empire State Building, watching the Hunters, nature spirits and Athena Cabin form up below. Plus one dark-haired demigod.

"Him again?" asked Thanatos rhetorically.

Anaplekte followed his gaze, "Oh, that's Perseus Jackson. Son of Poseidon, boyfriend of Annabeth Chase, leader of the Campers. Kronos wants him dead in particular."

"Then that is Chase?" Thanatos pointed to a blonde with long hair, right next to Perseus.

She nodded, "Kronos wants her dead, too. Almost as much as Jackson."

Hyperion and his army approached from across the Reservoir, Hyperion running across the lake.

Anaplekte snorted, "Show-off. Even after a few millenia in prison."

Perseus Jackson ran across the lake to meet him in the center while the footpaths on either side of it became engulfed in Greek Fire.

"Clever." acknowledged Thanatos, then frowned as he saw there was no ambushing force to take advantage of the effect.

The Keres was scowling as well, but for a seemingly different reason, "Look at that demigod, fighting Hyperion like he was an equal. No respect, these days. Kronos would change that,"

"I suppose." The God of Death replied, distracted and not listening. He was impartial to the war, really. Death was eternal, so why should he care who ruled?

The battle continued, with Anaplekte flipping her coin and cackling with delight each time it came up heads. Hyperion became encased inside of an oak, causing the Keres to scowl. Thanatos checked his IPad.

The monotony of the god's life changed as a giant, winged pig slammed into his blind side. Thanatos fell fifty meters and slammed into the ground with a painful _crunch_ as Anaplekte spiraled down beside him.

"Are you okay?" asked the Keres, concerned.

Thanatos stood, brushing dust off of his sleeveless black tunic, " _Just_ got this thing cleaned. . ."

"Yes, then." Anaplekte smiled, but it shifted to a scowl as soon as Thanatos took off again, "Missed opportunity . . ."

The Keres took flight after the god, promising herself not to miss the next chance to kill him. In the name of Lord Kronos, of course.

Thanatos followed the flying sow, dodging the black pegasus again as it approached the pink monstrosity. Yet again, Perseus Jackson had taken it upon himself to play the hero.

Thanatos tutted, "Young men these days . . ."

"Quite." agreed Anaplekte, glaring at the boy with all the hatred in her black soul. She was behind and to the left of the god, perfect striking position and also out of sight.

Somehow, the demigod managed to loop a piece of rope around the sow -where in Hades did the rope come from? Thanatos certainly hadn't spotted it- and looped the other end around an automaton of Hermes. The God of Death scowled, he didn't like automatons either; With no soul to depart, the mechanical aberrations never died.

He landed on the rooftop of a library, watching as Perseus activated two lion automatons and began to kill the winged sow.

"So he lives once again." Thanatos commented.

His answer came in the form of claws ripping at his throat. The God of Death -sizing up the situation- leapt off the library, spinning in mid-air and frantically looking for Anaplekte.

A crushing weight drove Thanatos to the ground, claws digging into his back as Anaplekte laughed victoriously, "Not so serene now, big brother?"

Thanatos groaned, rolling on the ground and unseating Anaplekte from her perch on his back before getting to his feet. His back and throat stung from the Keres' blows, but nonetheless he prepared for a fight.

"I admit, I did not expect you to fall to Kronos' will." said Thanatos, raising his fists, "But you were always the weaker one."

Anaplekte lunged at him, but the god batted aside her claws and buried a fist in her gut before grabbing her by the wings and throwing the Keres into a the library itself and following with his fists up. She came back with a vengance, claws flashing as the god gave ground. So ferocious was her onslaught that Thanatos couldn't guard against it all. Claw marks adorned his chest and face, then Anaplekte grabbed his head and slammed it into her knee.

The god backed further into the library, groaning and falling to his knees as the pain split his head in half. His right hand closed around a length of metal pipe, debris strewn from the pig's landing and thrown into the building itself. As Anaplekte approached, Thanatos surged upward, flapping his wings to give even more power to the blow that _slammed_ into Anaplekte's side. A multitude of cracks heralded broken ribs as Thanatos now pushed the Keres back. Bruises formed on her arms from where Anaplekte blocked the pipe, but she was far from finished. A claw arced up, catching the god's left nostril and ripping back before Anaplekte formed a fist and punched him in his broken and now mutilated nose.

She ripped the bar out of Thanatos' hands, sending it spinning into the stacks as the Keres' claws went to town on his body. It wasn't to last, however.

The God of Death's knee shot upwards, slamming into Anaplekte's groin and throwing her off his chest. Thanatos lunged after the Keres, grabbing her by the collar of her cloak and slamming her head into a wall before throwing her into a shelf of books.

The god pursued, grabbing her by the head and ramming his knee into her nose once, twice, three times before taking an edition and _War & Peace._ Thanatos looked down at his treacherous sister before slamming the book down, likely breaking her jaw and ensuring she'd stay out for a _long_ time.

Death dusted himself off before walking out and taking to the air again.

 **A/N: Inspired by Shakespeare and the Book Thief, all that jazz. I _was_ going to put a crappy one-liner in there, like maybe "Looks like _your_ story ends _here_." or something. I just thought it was a bit _too_ OOC.**

 **Reviews are always greatly appreciated! Seriously, it makes my day.**


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